#just realized a day later i put navy instead of the marines oops

[anakin-pilled]

ATWOW CHARACTERS AND WHETHER THEY WOULD BUY TICKETS TO BARBIE, OPPENHEIMER, OR BOTH

I was about to go to sleep last night but then this idea popped in my head so I had to write it in honor of Barbenheimer week 🫡🫡 if you see typos no you didn’t..

Barbie:

Tuk: Pretty self explanatory. She begged for weeks to watch it.

Rotxo: Was the second most excited to watch after Tuk. Didn’t want to third wheel Tsireya and Lo’ak so he made a bet with Ao’nung and won. He has major Alan energy.

Neteyam: Lowkey wanted to watch Oppenheimer with his parents instead. He offered to take Tuk because he loves his little sister. Ended up enjoying the movie a lot!

Tsireya: She’s literally a doll. This Barbie is a mermaid!

Spider: Bought tickets to Barbie because he wanted to sit next to Kiri and do the classic “yawn and move arm over shoulders move.” Depressed when he saw Kiri didn’t go and ended up sulking the entire time.

Oppenheimer:

Neytiri: Was dragged by Jake. Jumped at the chance to have Neteyam take Tuk because she didn’t feel like watching Barbie. What? It was date night! Didn’t enjoy the movie…it was too slow and dark. Why would you want to create something so dangerous? Jake lost his date night planning privileges for a month.

Tonowari: Jake hyped it up to Tonowari and suggested him and Ronal watch it for their date night. He didn’t enjoy it either.

Quaritch: Pretty self explanatory. Saw Jake was sitting in the seat front of him so used it an opportunity to annoyingly kick the back of Jake’s seat.

Both:

Jake: He was in the Marines; nerdy war history excites him. Convinced Neytiri to go for date night. Definitely went to watch Barbie alone because he’s a fan of Ryan Gosling.

Lo’ak: Only because he promised Tsireya he would watch Barbie with her. Convinced he has Kenergy and spends the rest of the evening annoying Tsireya with corny jokes. Bought Oppenheimer tickets because he didn’t want Ao’nung to make fun of him. Accidentally touched hands with Ao’nung while reaching for more popcorn

Ao’nung: Lost a stupid bet and had to go with Rotxo; he didn’t want to admit it, but Ao’nung was excited to watch Barbie. Bought Oppenheimer tickets because he didn’t want Lo’ak to make fun of him. Had no idea what was going on the entire time while watching Oppenheimer.

Bonus Category: Neither

Kiri: She forgot she made plans to help Mo’at run some errands. Felt bad for Spider and asked him to hang out one on one another time.

Ronal: Way too damn pregnant to sit in a movie theater for three hours. Eywa may have blessed her with another child, but she did not bless her bladder’s strength. She would have had to use the bathroom every 10 minutes. Asked Tonowari to bring back movie theater popcorn with extra butter because she was craving it.

[calcipher763]

Choice: A Double-Edged Sword

Knowledge. Creation. Destruction. Choice. Four relics created by the Gods of Remnant, left there as gifts for mankind. Each gift was specifically made with a purpose in mind and, for the most part, they’re fairly simple to deduce. As we have seen the relic of Knowledge gives knowledge at the requirement of three questions that reset every century (the specifics of how and when the recent occurs being fairly unknown). The relic of creation is, obviously, able to create things and I, along with many other’s, wouldn’t be surprise if it was utilized by Atlas in the creation of Penny. The relic of destruction destroys. Enough said (though, personally, I’d find it hilarious to know that it was what caused Vacuo to be made into a desert simply because the person holding it dropped it and “oops, sorry”). The final relic, however, the relic of choice is one that has eluded me. While choice may be a simple enough concept to understand, how it was crucial in the creation or establishing of choice is something we’ve yet to learn. That said, after careful consideration, I’ve come to realize that out of all the relics Choice is perhaps the most powerful and the most dangerous relic. Say what you will but by the end of this theory you will come to realize that it’s placement at Beacon where Ozpin was the headmaster and was thus the first place to be struck was all done purposefully on both sides parts.

Now, considering that the relics are based around Gods who were a fundamental part of not only Remnant’s creation but also in many of its legends, philosophies, and beliefs, I’m going to get a little religious here but don’t worry you’ll find this very interesting. Growing up in a Christian home I was naturally taught the story of creation including the time prior to man being brought to Earth. In a crucial part of the story we see a point where Lucifer, just prior to his fall, demanded he be made the savior of mankind instead of his brother Jesus Christ. Now, while it can be difficult to understand at first glance, when you dig deeper you’ll notice he offers to bring everyone back but at the cost of our agency. He basically under no uncertain terms says “I’ll make sure everyone one can make it into Heaven by taking away their ability to choose. If they have no choice but to follow me then they can’t commit acts of evil.” Naturally, God didn’t go along with this plan. A fundamental part of being human is our ability to make our own choices. It’s what allows us to adapt, to evolve, to grow as a people and become who were are, for better or for worse. That is why the relic of Choice is so powerful and so dangerous. It’s very likely that it has the ability to grant agency to those who had none in the first place (i.e. the Grimm) and quite possibly has the power to override it as well, effectively enslaving someone against their will.

Let’s take a step back and consider what we know about the RWBY universe so far and use it to revisit the story from the beginning. Considering that there exist four relics, each of which is housed in a different kingdom and presumably under the Huntsmen Academies, you’d think the natural choice would be to go after Destruction first, right? Think about it, what better weapon to use against the armies of humanity than a weapon that literally destroys, perhaps even better than anything the people of Remnant have managed to create so far? Instead, Salem and her lieutenants target Beacon and the relic of knowledge. Why? Simply put, it’s the most powerful of the four not for its ability to destroy humanity but for its ability to destroy humanity’s faith in itself.

Consider for a moment the name of Ozpin’s Academy. It’s called Beacon. It’s quite literally meant to show the way, to be a light in the darkness, a vision of hope when all seems lost. The huntsmen academies were specifically built to instill within humanity a sense of hope, to give a reason to believe they had a chance of overcoming and one day defeating the Grimm. It’s a symbol and what better way to destroy a people’s faith than to destroy a symbol of that faith?

So, knowing this, Salem devises a plan to do just that in what would be a very poignant and poetic manner. She trains Cinder, has her go after the Fall maiden, infiltrate the school, take the relic of knowledge and use it against humanity. Here’s where things take an interesting turn in my theory. Ozpin dying was always part of the plan. I believe that him being two souls in one body would have somehow shielded him against the relic’s power and simply killing him would set him back from reacting quick enough to counter Salem However, the real target would have been Ironwood for several reasons that I will soon cover.

With all that aside let’s consider for a moment the relic of Choice’s abilities. Assuming that they can, in fact, override a person’s ability to make their own choices the next few questions that come to mind are “to what extent?” How big is it’s range? How long do the effects last? Does it have a limit to how many people it can control all at one time? Does a person’s strength of will make them less susceptible to the relic’s abilities?” There’s a slew of questions we could ask and may never have answered so, for the sake of making everything easy to understand and follow, we’ll be going with a few assumptions.

First and foremost, we’ll assume that the relic can completely override a person’s ability to choose regardless. Second, it’s limited to one person or a few people at best and you need to be nearby in order to control them, more so out of a necessity to give them orders and dictate their actions. Lastly, the person will act completely normal, no obvious outward signs that something is wrong or off about them. However, internally they’re a prisoner of their own mind, unable to dictate their actions while being forced to watch them play out. It’s a scary concept and one that I would relish seeing being implemented in RWBY. Not only that but it makes a great deal of sense why you would want to go after the relic of choice. Why fight your way into the vaults when you can override the headmaster/headmistress’ ability to choose while also taking control of the maidens. It makes things so much easier for Salem and her crew which is why Ozpin maintained his position at Beacon.

For all his faults, of which I’m sure we can agree he has many, Ozpin is nothing if not intelligent, manipulative, cunning and cleaver. When taking everything into consideration you can see just how far ahead he was of Salem and her plans. For example, in RWBY Vol. 4 we find that Salem is still searching for the relic, Ozpin having presumably stowed it away somewhere safe and that this little tidbit is confirmed later on. This is also foreshadowed by the fact that the relic vault was repurposed into a housing chamber for Ironwood’s Aura transfer machine, further solidifying the fact that he knew Beacon was a prime target for Salem to attack from the beginning. Knowing all this, Ozpin took the relic without anyone’s knowledge and hide it away in a place only he would have the knowledge of, ensuring that if he were killed this would only hinder Salem’s plans just as they would his own. Cheeky bastard, isn’t he? Assuming all this to be true it would further raise Lionheart’s importance, as well as the urgency he showed in having teams RWBY and JNPR accompany him to Haven to confront the man, as the relic of knowledge would no doubt give Salem the answers she needed to retrieve the relic of choice. Thus, his death ultimately served him by putting him in a place that would ensure he was close enough to intercept Salem’s plans at Haven, though that is putting in a whole lot of assumption simply on pure dumb luck.

Now let’s return to our discussion of Ironwood. As part of Salem’s plan General James Ironwood is meant to survive the attack on Beacon and return to Atlas. His part in her plans is pivotal and there are three distinct reasons why. First off, he’s the headmaster of Atlas Academy. That fact alone makes him important in the aspect that he, quite literally, is sitting on top of a very powerful item. Second, he’s the General of the Atlas military. While I don’t know all the ins and outs of the military hierarchy within the RWBY verse, for the sake of the theory lets assume he’s like a five star General in that he’d control all aspects of the army, navy, air force, and marines. Lastly, a little bit of information that increases his importance in the theory, he holds two seats on the Atlas council. As far as I’m aware that grants him nearly unlimited political power. Add to the fact that he is in control of the most powerful military on Remnant and you have yourself a devastating foe regardless of whether he’s an ally or enemy.

Knowing all this we can begin to see why Salem would want the relic of choice. Using Watt’s virus to effectively turn the world against Atlas, Cinder would find a way to infiltrate Ironwood’s inner circle. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if she used her little speech during the fall of Beacon as a means of purposely getting herself captured simply so she could get close to Ironwood to use the relic on him. Once in range he’d become her puppet, maintaining her prisoner status as a means of subverting suspicious while also allowing herself to be close enough to control and dictate his actions. With no one the wiser, Ironwood begins implementing the same changes he’s made so far in the show, albeit under Cinder’s orders. She then has him begin making preparations for an attack on another Kingdom under the guise that they intend to attack Atlas in retaliation for what transpired at Beacon. Being being the most powerful and influential man in Atlas, no one thinks or even dares to cross him or question his orders. No one, that is, except for Winter Schnee.

Winter is the one variable that could prove a threat to Salem’s plans. From the limited screen time she’s had there are a few things we can surmise. The first is that she is loyal. She’s a woman who believes in her cause, as well as Ironwood, but no doubt has enough sense to think for herself without blindly following orders. I highly doubt a woman of her caliber would have made it as far in her career, to the point of becoming Ironwood’s right hand woman no less, by simply doing exactly what she was told. She’s also someone who’s no doubt highly respected and decorated. Apart from Ironwood himself, it would come as no surprise to find out that Winter is considered second only to the General himself, making her a key icon in the military. This makes her a viable threat as she would no doubt be the only person capable of not only noticing that Ironwood was acting strangely but also of being able to successfully mount a cou de tau against him. Thus, at some point, Cinder would need to have her removed, either subtly or, to add another nail into the coffin of humanity’s distrust within its leaders, publicly through the reveal of her attempts to overthrow Ironwood and thus the current government.

From there things could pan out quite predictably. Through the use of Watt’s virus the mechanized army of Atlas could greatly overtake the remaining kingdom’s. Any resistance could be effectively snuffed out with those left either following out of fear or through a legitimate desire to gain something from their service to Salem. Granted, I don’t doubt that some sort of resistance would rise up to oppose this but, given how much more advanced Atlas is more so than it’s allies, I find it doubtful that their efforts would prove effective if at all.

Now, I’ll admit outright that much of this theory is based on a great many assumptions that certain things would pan out exactly as intended but, then again, it would make a great deal of sense for Salem to concoct something like this. From what we’ve seen she went from using vast armies to force men under her rule to ruling from the shadows, using puppet lieutenants to act as her voice and face while also pushing her agenda. It’s obvious she realized that somethings don’t work anymore or at least, with the changing of the times comes a change in her strategy.

Whew, this took a while to right and is honestly one of my longer running theories. So glad I got it out, though. It was only recently that I began considering the powers of each relic and how they were significant. It then occurred to me that Choice just wasn’t very self explanatory. Still, hope you guys enjoyed this. I have a couple others brewing that I’ll be posting soon enough. One will be on my favorite RWBY ship “Whiteknight” and why I believe it’s completely possible that it might become cannon in the series as well as a theory on Lionheart and how his actions make him the greatest antagonist in RWBY thus far. Stay tuned because those will be dropping soon.